While watching a promo for another group; I noticed they gather in a circle and state the Prayer of St. Michael for protection. I was curious as to other group rituals, which are preformed prior to an investigation.

The prayer of St. Michael seems a little fear based:

Saint Michael the Archangel,defend us in battle.Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host -by the Divine Power of God -cast into hell, satan and all the evil spirits,who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.

Amen.

What is your ritual prior to an investigation and what do you have to fear when investigating a site?

We really do not have a ritual that we take part in before an investigation. As far as what we fear when investigating, I do not believe that we go into it fearing anything. There has been one case, on a local farm, where we gathered and a member did a little something to gain positive energy. It was more or less to get everyone "psyched" about the night ahead. We are more of a non-religious-based group, so we do not use any prayes or anything.

We all stop for a coffee and supper first does that count. Other than that we don't have anything specific related to religious or spiritual protections. And your right about the St Michaels prayer being a little on the fear based side of things. But to each their own. What ever helps the individual.

The light of God surrounds us The love of God enfolds us The power of God protects us

Although I think that spirits are around us all the time, I am also sure to thank them for coming forward and tell them when I leave a location that they are not allowed to attach themselves to me or or follow me. Always.

Good Topic!!! My group does do a prayer. It is a prayer thanking God for the opportunity of doing an investigation, and a prayer asking for insight and understanding into things unseen. To me it is more a respect issue. Respect for respect. It is not a fear or religious issue. We also have a prayer afterwards. We always meet for coffee before the investigation to set our goals for the investigation, and then we usually have coffee afterwards to get everyone's personal feelings and insights.

I like the idea of having a meeting before and/or after the investigation. It helps to keep our focus and remember why we are investigating in the first place - brief and debrief if you will. I don't see anything wrong with a prayer, pep talk or just getting together at the site to state your intentions. Some individuals are new to the investigation's and might need to hear some words of "protection" or assurance to ease their minds so they can focus on the task at hand.

Everyone is unique. Do No Harm not only applies to the client and the location, but also to each other. We are a team and we need to appreciate where each member is coming from in life. Hopefully we can grow together on our journey.

I have a kind of unique circumstance with my group. We are a mix of pagan and christian beliefs so it's kind of hard to do a specific prayer. The Pagans in the group prefer an herbal smudge prior to entering AND leaving the premises. The Christians pray. I've just simply got to the point where we all join hands and invite any spirits present to make themselves known to us and assure them we mean them no harm. The reason I chose this way is because regardless of the path chosen, we are all still acting on our own personal superstitions, dogmas, etc. The group on TV that starts each investigation with a prayer to St. Michael are mostly catholic.

I have a confession.....I always wear a pentagram on investigation (hidden under my clothes usually). Not for defense, but to let anything we deal with know where I stand.

Just curious though, does anyone else do the cleansing after the investigation? I've felt impressed many times to do so.

I've only done smudging/cleansing if the client asks for it. It's interesting to me that you bring up the Pagan and Christian angles. I'm a Spiritualist minister but have been working at a Wiccan herbal store. I would have never thought I would be working side-by-side with Wiccan's - just my lack of knowledge.

My home investigations brought me to the store in the first place. I was seeing hooded individuals (energy) at different homes in which the homeowners were doing ritualistic activities. So I went to the Wiccan store to ask for assistance and a better understanding what I was seeing. We hit it off and she asked if I would do workshops and readings at the store. So it all worked out. They love it when I do seances. One never knows where they are going to meet their next set of friends.

I do smudging if a situation needs to be addressed. I make it a habit to bring along a kind of gift pack for the person we were helping. We helped those who wished to cross over to do so, then if the family/individual requested we would do a cleansing. The gift pack included sage or sandalwood incense, sacred salt and oil and instructions on how to use them.

I've never spoken with a spiritualist before. Maybe some time we can chat about stuff. I would like to get a better understanding of what spiritualism is.

Without meaning offense to anyone who has contributed to this thread, and playing devil's advocate here.........what does smudging, praying, actually accomplish if anything? It seems to me that it's sole purpose is to assuagethe individuals fears related to their belief system. I can understanding doing it for the client's benefit if they request it.....but when will investigators start wearing garlands of garlic, or carry revolvers with silver bullets?

Our methodologies should be scientific or as close to it as possible. Otherwise how can we differentiate ourselves from the weekend ghostbusters?

I have always gone by whatever everyones individual belief systems were (that is what will make them feel comfortable), but lately I am confused... I understand that the "activty" of smudging and/or "protection" may not be a scientific thing, but at the same time I see the other side of it....

I have alway been scientific, but at what point do I become too scientific? lol

Does this make sense?

P.S. I guess I should mention that we do not smudge or anything else unless it is for the effect of adding to the client's mental process of ejecting anything "negative" (whether that be "for show" or negative energy) out. BUT, I have been reading more on Earth Power and Earth Religion and it is interesting, but it is a belief.